Pray

Pray

Luke 18: 1-8

There’s a magazine cartoon that shows a little fellow kneeling beside his bed for his bedtime prayer. He says with some measure of disgust, "Dear God, Uncle Jim still doesn’t have a job; Sis still doesn’t have a date for the social; Grandma is still feeling sick - and I’m tired of praying for this family and not getting results."

Prayer is often talked about, but seldom practiced

Context: Jesus knew the importance that prayer would be to his disciples- waiting for Pentecost, growth of the church, persecution that would come, etc

Two commands Jesus gave them regarding prayer

All times to pray

Not lose heart

What causes us to lose heart in prayer

No immediate results

We wonder if we have been heard by God

In our instant society we want instant answers

Doesn’t work that way

Have you quit praying for a friend, family or loved one because after months or years of praying nothing has happened

Ill. George Mueller prayed for two friends salvation for all his life. One saved just two months before his death at his last sermon. The other two years after

Similar to the widow in the story- no indication just how long she had to continue on

Circumstances seem against you

Rather than things getting better they often get worse

Ill. Circumstances we see are like a parade passing by. Can’t see the whole picture

For this widow things looked bleak

No husband

No one to stand for her

Poor

We can’t let the circumstances around us dictate us to quit and lose heart

Lack or loss of faith

Vs. 8

Suddenly Jesus connects prayer with finding faith on earth

We may not verbally declare we doubt God but when we give up on prayer we are practicing that we have a lack of faith

We are saying that God is unable

We are saying that God is unwilling

Reasons to keep praying

Pray because much is at stake

This widow was in desperate times

Poor, unable to pay off associates to have her case heard

Without the judges favorable ruling, she would be hopeless

We are hopeless, we just don’t realize it

We are desperate, but we can’t see it

Hanging from ceiling with no ladder

Wouldn’t have to convince you to hold on

Keep praying- eternity is at stake

Pray because the answer may be just ahead

How many times did this widow go to the judge? Many

What if she had quit right before he was gonna rule in her favor

Mr. Hanover and Cadillac story

This week could be the answer to your prayer!

Pray because persistence is mandated

The point of this story was to encourage the disciples to not quit praying

Through this journey of persistent prayer God does several things

He tunes your heart to His

He prepares you for His work

He build your spiritual muscle-faith

Pray because you are special to God and he hears

This story focused also on a selfish, uncaring, judge

This is not the comparison to our Father

If an unrighteous judge will act so as not to be bothered how will a loving father react to the cries of his children

Andrea can ask for almost anything

Conclusion

If Jesus came today would he find you

Faithful in prayer

Persistent in prayer

Or would he find you

To distracted to pray

To self sufficient to pray

To discouraged to pray

What or who is it that God is calling you to begin or return praying for today?